Baby Dies After 911 Call

Infant Stops Breathing In Family Home

As the young Boynton Beach mother headed for work Sunday morning, she covered her 3-month-old daughter's legs and back with a pillow because she looked cold, investigators said.

About three hours later, the infant wasn't breathing, police said. She was rushed to Bethesda Memorial Hospital, where she died.

What led to the baby's death is still under investigation by the Boynton Beach Police Department. The mother, whose name was not released, has not been charged with a crime.

Authorities have determined that the mother placed the pillow on the baby as she slept on her stomach on a couch in a house in the 100 block of Northeast 12th Avenue about 7:20 a.m., right before she left for work. The baby's grandmother was home at the time, but she was asleep and didn't wake up until a phone call stirred her later in the morning.

At that time, the grandmother, whose name also was not released, discovered that the baby wasn't breathing. She called 911, and rescuers took the baby shortly after 10 a.m. to the hospital.

The mother told police that the baby looked fine but cold when she placed the pillow on her. She left the house thinking nothing was wrong. She told a teenager staying at the house that she was leaving and that the baby's grandmother should be awakened if the baby cried.

Leon Fooksman can be reached at lfooksman@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6647.